Here's a rundown of notable studies from the past year, via Bloomberg's Robert Langreth and Duane D. Stanford:

Rats engaged in binge eating when given access for one hour daily to junk food like Hormel Foods Corp. bacon, Sara Lee Corp. pound cake, The Cheesecake Factory Inc. cheesecake and Pillsbury Co. Creamy Supreme cake frosting. Rats given access fo the food for long periods of time became obese. The rats showed the same brain pattern seen with escalating use of cocaine.

Pictures of milkshakes triggered the same reaction in fat people as pictures of alcohol did for alcoholics.

As they grew fatter, women became desensitized to the pleasure induced by an image of a milkshake.

Rats given regular access to sugar water abandoned their regular diet. When forced to quit the hooch they experienced withdrawal symptoms.